A jury has ruled against a paralyzed former player who had hoped to prove he was an employee of Texas Christian University and eligible for workers’ compensation coverage.
After deliberating for about an hour, 10 of 12 jurors concluded that Alvis Kent Waldrep Jr. was not a TCU employee when he was hurt in a game at Alabama on Oct. 26, 1974. On that day, he sustained a spinal-cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Now 43, Waldrep had hoped his lawsuit in state district court would lead to worker’s compensation coverage for all college athletes.
“College athletes still are at the mercy of their schools. They are not protected. They are the ones who earn the money. We convinced two (jurors) and will continue talking about this,” said Waldrep, who did not discount appealing the ruling.
Gregory Whigham, a lawyer for the now-defunct Texas Employers Insurance Association, told jurors no one backed Waldrep’s testimony about receiving extra cash from boosters. He also said the scholarship was an award for his academic and athletic ability, not compensation for work on the football field.
